Ronald J. Fitzsimmons

Who is Ronald J. Fitzsimmons?

Ronald J. "Ron" Fitzsimmons was the Director of Government Relations for the National Abortion Rights Action League from 1982 to 1985, and the Executive Director of the National Coalition of Abortion Providers from its founding in 1990 until 2004. In 1993, he was named one of the top 50 "Hired Guns" on Capitol Hill by Washingtonian magazine.

In 1997 he gained notoriety when he admitted that he had "lied through his teeth" when he testified to Congress about partial-birth abortion in 1995. The procedure, he said, was much more common than had been previously admitted, and "the vast majority of these abortions are performed in the 20-plus week range on healthy fetuses and healthy mothers." In his congressional testimony he had claimed that the procedure is done only when the mother's life is in jeopardy or the fetus has a medical condition that would prevent survival.